Researchers at MIT are developing a robot that can "sniff" out drugs on a ship. The submersible robot is designed to move along the hulls of ships. It could use ultrasound scanning to detect hollow spaces in false hulls and propeller shafts where drugs might be stashed.

Designed by grad student Sampriti Bhattacharyya and Harry Asada, a professor of engineering at MIT, the bot is divided into two halves, one waterproof and the other water-permeable. The permeable side provides the propulsion.

The robot was made using 3-D printed structural elements which makes the bot inexpensive to make. A swarm of robots could be used to ferret out contraband.

Bhattacharyya was quoted as saying: “It’s very expensive for port security to use traditional robots for every small boat coming into the port.”